Shoe forepart bottom filler



April' 6, 1948. E. LA CHAPELLE SHOE FOREPART BOTTOM FILLER Filed March13, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fay IN V EN TOR.

April 1948. E. 1. LA CHAPELLE 2,439,172

SHOE FOREPART BOTTOM FILLER Filed March 13, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Apr. 6, 1948 SHOE FOREPART BOTTOM FILLER Euclid I. La Chapelle,Brockton, Mass.,

assignor of one-fourth to Albert L. La Chapelle, one-. fourth toBeatrice H. La Chapelle, and onefourth to Rachel E. La ChapelleApplication March 13, 1946, Serial No. 654,130 1 v 1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to and more particularly to shoe forepart bottomfillers adaptable to boots and shoes of the Goodyear welt type or thelike.

The term shoe" occurring in the specification and in the claims is to beinterpreted to include the term "boot."

Conventional shoe forepart bottom fillers extend from side to side andfrom the toe-end to the shankpartof the shoe forepart bottom cavity tobe filled and, so far as I am aware, all such fillers have been formedas a unit, at least along the central portion thereof. Such unitaryformashoe bottom fillers tion 'of shoe forepart bottom fillers, when ofhard I set filler material, such as in the socalled setite process,which is generally adopted, notably in shoes of the well known Goodyearwelt type. causes the flller to react against the free flex of theinsole and outsole of the shoe in it being strained lengthwise in arearward direction from the toe-end under the influence of the flex ofthe forepart of the shoe in the act of walking, and disadvantageousdisarrangement of the fore portion of the filler under the effect of therearward lengthwise strain thereupon when the filler is being flexed inwear; and, when formed of soft filler material, such as soft rubber,which is well recognized to be the best comfortable cushioning fillermaterial known, then the reaction of the filler against the free flex ofthe insole and outsole of the shoe is practically nil, but the effect ofthe undue draw of the rubber upon the entire forepart of the foot makesfor the impracticability of such a shoe forepart bottom filler.

With the aim in view of reducing, at least to a substantial lesserdegree, the above noted objectionable conditions, I have conceived theimproved welt shoe forepart bottom filler herein disclosed. a

As shown in the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of a sole, which I, preferably, havesubstituted for the conventional welt shoe insole for greaterflexibility of the inseam;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the full thickness of thesaid turn shoe sole;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of a soft rubber disk with a flangeportion:

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view'showing the full thickness of thesoft rubber disk, shown in Fig. 3;

Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of a partly made Goodyear welt shoe withthe said soft rubber disk disposed within the bottom cavity formed bythe inseamedforepart of the shoe;

Figure 6 is a view similar to the one shown in Fig. 5, but then with theconventional resilient "bottom filler material disposed within theforepart bottom cavity of the shoe, extending over the flange portion ofthe soft rubber disk and to the toe-end of the shoe;

Figure 7 is a view of the finished Goodyear welt shoe incorporating myimproved shoe forepart bottom filler and broken away to show the insoleand the soft rubber disk as interposed therebetween and the outsole ofthe shoe; and c Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of the finishedGoodyear welt shoe, taken on line 8-8 Fig. 7;

As further shown in the drawings:

The sole I has a stitch receiving portion 2, formed by the channel 3,and a square shoulder 4, in contradistinction to the conventional weltshoe insole having a shoulder-lip situated outwardly of the channel-lip,upstanding and counteracting the flexibility of the inseam, and theshoulder of the said sole is formed substantially perpendicularly to theface of the sole, as best shown inFig. 2, and such substantially squareshoulder is common on soles intended for turn shoes and forms no part ofmy invention. The advantages of such a sole in a Goodyear welt shoe, asherein proposed, may be enumerated to be:

(a) That a more flexible solid leather welt shoe insole is thereby madepossible; (1)) that a smoother contour of the shoe adjacent to the weltresults; and (c) that a substantial saving is affectedin that therebeing no shoulder-lip, the lip-turning machine and the cost of itsoperation are'eliminated.

It is to be appreciated, however, that although such a square shoulderedsole in a Goodyear welt shoe may advantageously serve, in combinationwith my improved shoe forepart bottom filler which is also more flexiblethan the conventional shoe forepart-bottom filler in having a hingelikeloose joint situated midway or thereabouts of its length, where its twodistinct portions meet, the said improved filler is not limited to useby the type of insole incorporated in a shoe and it 3. may be alsoadvantageously used in a Goodyear welt shoe embodying the conventionalwelt shoe insole.

As herein shown,'prior to the disposal of the .flller material withinthe bottom cavity of the the flange B, (in small, medium andlargesize's) which is disposed upon the rear forepart plane face of theshoe insole, in the ball area, and which is held thereon by the lightcoating of cemen- .fiiler' except for the soft rubber portion 5, and

which is herein shown, for convenience only, as being formed of amixture of grounded cork and cementitious material, and which advisedlyis formed-of a filler material of lesser resiliency having far less drawupon the foot than the said soft rubber portion 5, for avoiding therebyundue draw or overheat of the foot, as hereinafter further expiained,and which is disposed within the forepart bottom cavity of the shoe uponand around the flange portion 6, of the soft rubber disk (which flangeportion, obviously, is not absolutely necessary to 'the invention) andupon the toepart of the shoe insole as in the conventional manner bymeans of a trowel or the like. I Thus, the soft rubber disk 5, and theconventional flller material '9, which are substantially (the thicknessof the conventional flllenmaterial 5, being dependent, of course, uponthe depth of the cavity in the shoe tobe filled, which, inthe case of 4portion 5, located in the ball area, due to its thickness being, atleast in part, approximately that of the thickness of the less resilientportion of the filler, primarily makes for the extra resiliency thereofrequired to make for the flexing of that said circular portion withoutdisarrangement of the front portion of the flller.

It is important to note that I am first to have conceived the novelcombination in a shoe forein giving new beneficial results never beforeatpart bottom filler of two distinct portions, such as herein shown,which are relatively co-operative tained, and a claim has been directedto broadly cover and does broadly cover such a novel formation of a shoeforepart bottom filler.

It is to be further noted that due to the limited size of the softrubber disk 5, relatively to the entire size of the area of the shoeforepart bottom cavity to be filled, the foot is not thereby, undulydrawn, during the time of wear and, as already noted, since that rearportion of the shoe forepart bottom filler is the portion which issubjected to nearly all the pressure by the forepart of the foot whilethe rearpart of the shoe is being lifted from the pavement in the, actof walking, the comfortable cushioning effect of the soft rubber disk 5,practically is the same as it would be were Goodyear welt shoes or thelike, generally is of a depth of five thirty seconds of an inch orthereabouts), form, as a whole, the soft rubber portion a 5, invariablyextending throughout the conventional filler material 9, my improvedshoe forepart bottom filler III. In this connection it is important tonote that the rear portion 5, and the fore portion 8, of the saidfillerlll, form a hingelike loose joint, extending across the medianarea of the body of the filler midway or thereabouts of its length,making for free yield of the median area of the rear portion in arearward direction independently of the median area of the fore poruponthe filler when being flexed in act of walking and the filler is madealso more flexible.

lit is to be appreciated thatwool-felt, cork in sheet form, or any otherkinds of suitable material may be substituted for the sponge rubber disk5.

As shown in'Fig. 6, the partly made Goodyear 'welt shoe is in readinessto be passed to the out- 7 tion, by which, is avoided undue lengthwisestrain sole laying machine and, the outsole H, having- -been previouslyprovided with a, coating of the forepart bottom cavity of the Goodyearwelt shoe, all the subsequent shoemaking operations are performed in theconventional manner.

the shoe forepart bottom filler formed in its entirety of like softrubber. Furthermore, the soft, rubber portion 5, in being, as hereinshown,

in being thus very flexible and, whenever set in shoes as shown in Figs.5 and 6, is most adaptable,

in the general run of a shoe, factory, to be properly and quickly fittedto shoes of various styles and sizes. I, however, want it wellunderstood that my invention is not to be limited to the formation ofthe shoe. forepart bottom filler as herein shown in Fig. 6,'as, forexample, it is conceivable that a suitable conventional flller materialin sheet form may be provided and that shoe forepart bottom fillersextending, as in the conventional form,- from the toepart to theshankpart may. be cut out therefrom and that a hole then may be cut outfrom the filler at the rear portion thereof, through which the softrubber disk :5, may be inserted and made part of the shoe forepartbottom flller as a whole. Then, the said filler would be substantiallylike the improved shoe forepart bottom filler Ill, herein shown in Fig.6, and it would be eventually disposed as a unit within the shoeforepart bottom cavity. The claims, whenever the context -so permits,are to be interpreted in that sense. Obviously, a great saving isaffected in forming the shoe forepart bottom filler as herein shown inFigs. 5 and 6, and

1, preferably, have adopted that form of procedure as it is the best andmost economical form now to be known.

Having, thus explained my invention and shown the same in the best formnow to me known, what I claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States is:

A shoe filler for welt shoes, of a length adapted to fit the cavitybetween the inner sole and the outer sole from the shank to the toe endiof a shoe, said filler being formed of a resilient and a less resilientportion, the less resilient portion extending from the toe to the shankand comprising all of the filler except a circular portion of materialof greater resiliency located in the ball area and invariably extendingthroughout the less resilient portion and said circular portion being,at least in part, approximately of the thick- It is to be noted that thesoft rubber circular ness of .the lessresilient portion and of such size2,489,172 a 5 as to extend approximately the full width of the fillerand from the shank to approximately the UNITED STATES PATENTS midline ofsaid filler and providing a resilient area .Number Name Date whichallows flexing of this portion 0! the filler 1. Gllkerson al- 1 3without disarrangement of the iront portion ,4 1 G l r n 3 1931 thereof.1,850,809 Thoma Mar. 22, 1932 EUCLID 1 LA CHAPELLE 2,242,941 Daniels eta1 May 20, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date REFERENCES UITED Thefollowing references are of record in the fiz? file of this patent:

Great Britain Sept. 21, 1922

